160-161. 254-255 Flashcards
brevity
(N)
conciseness.
Brevity is essential when you send a telegram or cablegram; you are charged for every word.
bristling
(adj)
rising like bristles; showing irritation
The dog stood there, bristling with anger.
brittle
(adj)
easily broken; difficult.
My employer’s self-control was as brittle as an egg-shell. Her brittle personality made it difficult for me to get along with her.
broach
(v)
introduce;open up
Jack did not even try to broach the subject of religion with his in-laws. If you broach a touchy subject, it may cause a breach.
browbeat
(v)
bully; intimidate.
Billy resisted Ted’s attempts browbeat him into handing over his lunch money.
brunt
(n)
main impact or shock. Tom Sawyer claimed credit for painting the fence, but the brunt of the work fell on others. However, he bore the brunt of Aunt Polly’s complaints when the paint began to peel.
brusque
(adj)
blunt; abrupt.
Was Bruce too brusque when he brushed off Bob’s request with a curt ‘Not now!’?
buccaneer
(n)
pirate
At Disneyland the Pirates of the Caribbean sing a song about their lives as bloody buccaneers.
bucolic
(adj)
rustic; pastoral.
Filled with browsing cows and bleating sheep, the meadow was a charmingly bucolic sight.
buffet
(v)
slap; batter; knock about. To buffet something is to rough it up.
Was Miss Muffet buffeted by the crowd on the way to the buffet tray?
buffoonery
(n)
clowning.
In the Ace Ventura movies, Jim Carrey’s buffoonery was hilarious: like Bozo the Clown, he’s a natural buffoon.
bulwark
(n)
earthwork or other strong defense; person who defends.
The navy is our principal bulwark against invasion.
bumptious
(adj)
self-assertive
His classmates called him a show-off because of his bumptious airs
bungle
(v)
mismanage; blunder.
Don’t botch this assignment, Bumstead; if you bungle the job, you’re fired!
buoyant
(adj)
able to float; cheerful and optimistic.
When the boat capsized, her buoyant life jacket kept Jody afloat. Scrambling back on board, she was still in a buoyant mood, certain that despite the delay she’d win the race.
burgeon
(v)
grow forth; send out buds.
In the spring plants that burgeon are a promise of the beauty that is to come.
burlesque
(v)
give an imitation that ridicules.
In Spacebound, Rick Moranis burlesques Darth Vader of Star Wars, ingeniously parodying Vader’s stiff walk and hollow voice.
burly
(adj)
husky; muscular
The burly mover lifted a packing crate with ease.
burnish
(v)
make shiny by rubbing; polish.
The maid burnished the brass fixtures until they reflected the lamplight
bustle
(v)
move about energetically; teem.
David and the children bustled about the house getting in each others way as they tried to pack for the camping trip. The whole house bustled with activity
buttress
(v)
support; prop up
The attorney came up with several far-fetched arguments in a vain attempt to buttress his weak case
buxom
(adj)
plump; full blossomed
Fashion models are usually slim and willowy rather than buxom.
cabal
(n)
small group of persons secretly united to promote their own interests.
The cabal was defeated when the scheme was discovered.
cache
(n)
hiding place.
The detectives followed the suspect until he led them to the cache where he had stored his loot. He had cached the cash in a bag for trash; it was a hefty sum.
cacophonous
(adj)
discordant; inharmonious.
Do the students in the orchestra enjoy the cacophonous sounds they make when they’re tuning up? I don’t know how they can stand the racket.
cadaver
(n)
corpse
In some states, it is illegal to dissect cadavers.
cadence
(n)
rhythmic rise and fall (of words or sounds); beat.
Marching down the road, the troops sang out, following the cadence set by the sergeant.
cajole
(v)
coax; wheedle
Diane tried to cajole her father into letting her drive the family car
calamity
(n)
disaster; misery.
As news of the calamity spread, offers of relief poured in to the stricken community.
caldron
(n)
large kettle
“Why, Mr.Crusoe.” said the savage heating the giant caldron, “we’d love to have you for dinner!”
caliber
(n)
ability; quality
The scholarship committee searched for students of high caliber, ones with the intelligence and ability to be a credit to the school.
callous
(adj)
hardened; unfeeling
He had worked in the hospital for so many years that he was callous to the suffering in the wards.
callow
(adj)
youthful; immature; inexperienced
As a freshman, Jack was sure he was a man of the world; as a sophomore, he made fun of freshman as callow youths. In both cases, his judgement showed just how callow he was.
calorific
(adj)
heat-producing
Coal is much more calorific than green wood
calumny
(n)
malicious; misrepresentation; slander
He could endure his financial failure, but he could not bear the calumny that his foes headed upon him
camaraderie
(n)
good-fellowship
What he loved best about his job was the sense of camaraderie he and his co-workers shared
cameo
(n)
shell or jewel carved in relief; star’s special appearance in a minor role in a film. Don’t buy cameos from the street peddlers in Rome: the workmanship is wretched. Did you catch Bill Murray’s cameo in Little Shop of Horrors? He was on-screen so briefly that if you blinked you missed him
candor
(n)
frankness; open honesty
Jack can carry candor too far: when he told Jill his honest opinion of her, she nearly slapped his face
canny
(adj)
shrewd; thrifty.
The canny Scotsman was more than a math for the swindlers
cant
(n)
insincere expressions of piety; jargon of thieves
Shocked by news of the minister’s extramarital love affairs, the worshippers dismissed his talk about the sacredness of marriage as mere cant. Cant is a form of hypocrisy: those who can, pray; those who can’t, pretend.
cantankerous
(adj)
ill humored; irritable.
Constantly complaining about his treatment and refusing to cooperate with the hospital staff, he was a cantankerous patient.
canter
(n)
slow gallop
Because the racehorse had outdistanced its competition so easily, the reporter wrote that the race was won in a canter
capitulate
(v)
surrender
The enemy was warned to capitulate or face annihilation
capricious
(adj)
unpredictable; fickle; fanciful
The storm was capricious: it changed course constantly. Jill was capricious, too: she changed boyfriends almost as often as she changed clothes
captivate
(v)
charm or enthrall
Bart and Lisa were captivated by their new nanny’s winning manner
cardinal
(adj)
chief
If you want to increase your word power, the cardinal rule of vocabulary-building is to read
careen
(v)
lurch; sway from side to side
The taxicab careened wildly as it rounded the corner
caricature
(n)
exaggerated picture or description; distortion
The cartoonist’s caricature of President Bush grossly exaggerated the size of the president’s ears.
carnal
(adj)
fleshy
Is the public more interested in carnal pleasures than in spiritual matters? Compare the number of people who read Playboy daily to the number of those who read the Bible everyday
carnivorous
(adj)
meat-eating
The lion’s a carnivorous beast. A hunk of meat makes up his feast. A cow is not a carnivore. She likes the taste of grain, not gore
carping
(adj)
finding fault
A carping critic is a nit-picker: he loves to point out flaws. If you don’t like this definition, feel free to carp
castigate
(v)
criticize severely; punish. When the teacher threatened that she would castigate the mischievous boys if they didn’t behave, they shaped up in a hurry.
cataclysm
(n)
violent upheaval; deluge
The Russian Revolution was a political and social cataclysm that overturned czarist society.
catalyst
(n)
agent which brings about a chemical change while it remains unaffected and unchanged.
Many chemical reactions cannot take place without the presence of a catalyst.
cataract
(n)
great waterfall; eye abnormality.
She gazed with awe at the mighty cataract known as Niagara Falls
canto
(n)
division of a long poem
Dante;s poetic masterpiece The Divine Comedy is divided into cantos
canvass
(v)
determine votes, etc.
After canvassing the sentiments of his constituents, the congressman was confident that he represented the majority opinion of his district
capacious
(adj)
spacious
In the capacious rotunda of the railroad terminal, thousands of travelers lingered while waiting for their train.
grad, gress
go, step
digress go astray (from the main point)
regress go backwards
gradual step by step, by degrees
graph, gram
writing
epigram pithy statement
telegram instantaneous message over great distance
stenography shorthand (writing narrowly)
greg
flock, herd
gregarious tending to group together as in a herd
aggregate group, total
egregious conspicuously bad;shocking
helio
sun
heliotrope flower that faces the sun
heliograph instrument that uses the sun’s rays to send signals
it, itiner
journey, road
exit way out
itinerary plan of journey
jac, jact, jec
to throw
projectile missile; something thrown forward
trajectory path taken by thrown object
ejaculatory casting or throwing out
jur, jurat
to swear
perjure testify falsely
jury group of men and women sworn to seek the truth
adjuration solemn urging
labor, laborat
to work
laboratory place where work is done
collaborate work together with others laborious difficult
leg, lect, lig
to choose, to read
election choice
legible able to read
eligible able to be seleted
leg
law
legislature law-making body
legitimate lawful
legal lawful
liber,libr
book
library collection of books
libretto the “book” of a musical play
libel slander (originally found in a little book)
liber
free
liberation the fact of setting free liberal generous (giving freely); tolerant
log
word, study
entomology study of insects
etymology study of word parts and derivations
monologue speech by one person
loqu, locut
to talk
soliloquy speech by one individual
loquacious talkative
elocution speech
luc
light
elucidate enlighten
lucid clear
translucent allowing some light to pass through
magn
great
magnify enlarge
magnanimity generosity, greatness of soul
magnitude greatness, extent
mal
bad
malevolent wishing evil
malediction curse
malefactor evil-doer
man
hand
manufacture create (make by hand) manuscript written by hand emancipate free (let go from the hand)
mar
sea
maritime connected with seafaring
submarine undersea craft
mariner seaman